The Eureka Project
by Miss-Inquisitive-Sci-fi
Summary: Mallory is kidnapped by unknown assailants on his way to work and he has questions. What do the mysterious captors want, how do they know about the Eureka project and how the hell did they get their hands on MI6's number one asset? Warning contains violence, torture and mild swearing. Basically a hurt/comfort fic.
1. Chapter 1

Intelligent blue eyes scanned a grey wasteland beyond the car's tinted windows, all the while deducing and unravelling the lives of each passer-by in a matter of seconds. Early morning commuters were clutching their morning coffee's as if their lives depended on it, he watched them all scuttle as they dashed towards buses and underground entrances. Already the streets were bustling with black cabs, cyclists and the usual footfall of a working day in the capital. Every single one of them was oblivious to the real world where anything of true importance happened in the shadows. The world of shadows was where Gareth Mallory, better known as M, lived and worked.

He mused that it was easy to forget the sheer pace of London when locked away behind closed doors for the majority of the day. These snippets in the early morning and late evening were usually the only times he would actually _see_ London these days; being the head of MI6 came with a busy schedule after all.

As he continued to observe and reflect on his surroundings M noted the location of the vehicle and checked the time, _**6:40**_ , his driver had managed to shave a couple of minutes off their usual record. The sun was starting to eclipse the high-rise buildings so it wasn't long before the gleam off a reflective window had Mallory shield his eyes; finally drawing his attention away from the outside world and back onto the files in his lap.

The folder did not contain anything of real interest, just some cabinet meeting notes where the politicians seemed to have yet again spent an entire session getting through next to nothing. It was all rather tedious really but part of the job. As the leader of an intelligence organisation it just wouldn't do to be uninformed no matter how irrelevant the information may appear to be at the time.

Gareth only had part of his attention on the document so his head snapped up when he sensed something was amiss, David had tensed all of a sudden and he observed the iron-clad grip on the steering wheel not to mention the large intake of breath. Something was wrong. Mallory's intense gaze scanned the surrounding area around the vehicle, and saw something in the distance he believed was the source of David's change in alertness.

"The road works?" M asked slowly, placing the folder on the seat beside him closed.

David had already begun to ease off the accelerator and slowed the car down to pull up behind the car in front, eyes darting to the mirrors immediately making a threat assessment.

"There were no road works scheduled for today." David answered tersely, not pausing his assessment to answer.

Gareth felt his heart begin to race and felt the familiar sensation of adrenaline flooding his system, in a split millisecond he had also become hyper vigilant and was too assessing the area. They had turned onto a rather narrow street just off of the main roads so the traffic wasn't as heavy here, and there were next-to-no pedestrians. "Emergency works?" Mallory queried as his keen gaze continued to search for any danger.

The rooftops were clear of anything, no pedestrians to scan, and the construction workers hadn't looked their way once. There was only one vehicle behind them and it was a small hatchback driven by an over worked employee of the city, no alarm bells were ringing when Gareth scrutinised the driver so he moved on.

"Perhaps…" David answered cautiously and M saw his hand reaching towards the controls to radio HQ.

Their car remained stationary in the small queue. 3 vehicles ahead there was a very bored looking construction worker presenting the traffic with a big stop sign as heavy machinery rolled across the road. Gareth had to admit everything looked normal yet his instincts were telling him something was off. David was clearly having the same feeling as he completed the call to HQ.

"Alpha 1, requesting information about road works on Cambridge street."

To most people the voice would have sounded calm and collected but Mallory had been driven by David for years, and he knew when the man was rattled. Gareth ensured his seatbelt was fastened securely incase of the need for a quick getaway and remained vigilant on all sides, two eyes watching were always better than one.

"Copy Alpha 1, obtaining information."

Although they had only been stationary for 30 seconds it had felt longer than that as everything did in a hyper-vigilant state. Gareth observed the driver behind them growing more impatient as time wore on, he watched the construction workers carefully as they yelled at each other and operated the machinery drilling into the road. Water was puddling onto the pavement rapidly which led Mallory to believe that perhaps there had been a burst water pipe and they were both over-reacting, so then why did they both think they weren't?

David kept one hand clenched on the steering wheel and one where his firearm was concealed, the pair waited on baited breath as silence filled the car.

"Alpha 1, we have been in contact with the water board and the road works on Cambridge street are legitimate, I repeat legitimate. Short notice emergency."

Mallory let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding.

"Copy, over." David moved to switch off the radio but oddly didn't move his hand away from the firearm.

"Problem?" Mallory asked outright. David knew his background and understood his boss could be an asset in these types of situations.

David's eye's were scanning again and he didn't relieve his tension, "Something doesn't feel right, I might be over-reacting but…"

"No I trust your judgment, if you say something's not right then it probably isn't." Mallory interrupted, besides he wasn't exactly sitting calm with their current situation. Stationary targets were sitting ducks.

Just as the tension was beginning to become unbearable the man with the stop sign walked out of the way of the road and started waving the traffic through. David set the car in gear and started to roll forward, hand never wavering too far from his weapon as they inched onwards. They both probably expected the stop sign to come back out again as they reached the front of the queue, if that had happened then David would have started evasive action and rammed anyone in his way. That didn't happen though. Miraculously the worker waved them through and they followed closely behind the vehicle in front, the roadworks were short and Mallory could see the other side already.

They had just cleared the roadworks, and were re-joining their side of the road when he noticed David's grip becoming less tense; they crawled through the barriers with ease and normalcy. Mallory almost laughed at their paranoia earlier. Until he looked back in the rear view mirror.

The worker that had been holding the sign had stopped all following traffic and was currently looking directly at their car, holding his hand to his ear…

"David…" Mallory started before the words were snatched away from his lips under a cacophony of smashing, grinding and tearing.

Mallory felt white hot pain at his side as he impacted with the walls of the car and mentally catalogued a number of severely bruised if not broken ribs, the seatbelt cut deeply into his chest causing his breath to leave him immediately. Gasping for air his head slammed so hard into the unforgiving metal that he saw stars before uselessly blacking out.

* * *

 _Blood, fire, petrol._

The dangerous mix of smells brought M back to the land of the living, he vainly tried shaking the fog away from his head all the while unsure of how long he'd been out.

"HQ! Urgent assistance required, code 0, repeat code 0!"

Gareth groaned as the shouting only served to deepen the throbbing in his head, he brought a hand to his head to drown out the noise and only then realised the radio static that filled the car. _Shit._ He noted his seatbelt was missing and he was laid across the back seats; he must have been thrown a distance after whatever the hell had happened.

"Status." Mallory bit out through gritted teeth; he brought back his hand and saw blood.

He stupidly tried to sit-up when a wave of dizziness threatened to topple him back into the land of darkness. It was only the report of gunfire outside that rooted him firmly back to the moment, well the gunfight with what sounded like heavy weaponry and the impact of the shots all around the pair. Unsurprisingly, it appeared they should have listened to their instincts.

David slammed his fist against the in-car radio with frustration before glancing back and shoving Mallory's head down onto the car seat.

"You've got to stay below the windows sir!" David barked as Mallory valiantly fought with the overwhelming feeling to throw up, sudden movements and head injuries did not go well together.

Common sense and head injuries neither clearly. M already knew the windows were the weak point on the bulletproof car and the main target for all the guns firing at them so why had he felt the need to give the assailants a target?

"Sorry David, hit my head…" Mallory slurred unhelpfully as he felt the need to explain.

Gareth decided this would be an opportune moment to try and take stock of the situation as the fuzziness in his head cleared slowly. From the huge damage on the left side of the car and the roof he surmised they had been rammed from the side and had flipped over at least once. Only now did he see a small side road to their left and _jesus_ , they had been rammed by a truck. No wonder the collision had caused so much damage to the usually tough car. The conclusion certainly explained the blinding pain earlier and the feeling of being tossed around like a rag doll…

"Communications blackout, engines fucked." David replied tersely as shot after shot peppered the windscreen. If the shooting continued at the same rate then the front windscreen wouldn't last much longer and then they would both be buggered. "Some kind of signal jammer, can't get through on the car radio, backup or phone."

M fumbled for his phone and attempted calling HQ, nothing. Not that he had really expected anything.

"How long was I out?" Mallory's voice was mercifully starting to sound steadier.

"30 seconds max." David replied grimly hands gripping his firearm tighter as shards of windscreen began to splinter into the car.

They both knew what this meant it had only been a minute since the entire thing started, it would take at least 5 minutes for some police response but that was a bloody army out there. Who knew how far away an armed unit was?

"Do you have another gun?" Mallory asked as the bullets finally did their job and penetrated the front wind screen and the driver side window. They both knew that they couldn't just sit here at this rate.

David shook his head grimly as he steeled himself to start firing back now that their bulletproof protection had been shattered. Before Gareth had the time to say anything David had leaned up in his seat and started to fire back at the assailants, shots covering all fields of view out the front windscreen.

He dropped to the seat again panting released the spent clip and loaded another, flinching as more glass from the screen dropped on him.

"Numbers?" Mallory shouted as another volley rocked the car.

David panted as he waited for a break in the firing. "I think 7", a pause as he looked Gareth directly in the eye, "Stay down sir".

 _Shit._ Mallory felt useless and hated it, if only they had another gun they might have a chance of holding their attackers off. David leaned upwards again to fire back at their attackers but didn't manage to get off a single shot off, the fatal bullet exploded through the driver side window and impacted sickeningly with David's skull. Mallory felt the warm spray of blood splash across him as his brain struggled to comprehend what he had just witnessed. David's body fell sideways to land in a heap across the front of the car with a dull thud.

Gareth had to snap himself out of this daze if he stood any chance at all, he'd seen death before of course but it had been a while since he had been up-close and personal with it. _Close enough to smell it._ It proving hard to wrap his head around the fact David had just been brutally murdered on their way into work, just another ordinary day.

Mallory noted the lack of gunfire as he stretched forward to retrieve David's fallen firearm just about managing to hold the stalking unconsciousness at bay with the sudden movement. He lifted his head found a target out the front and fired twice, thud. The man fell with a grunt.

Before Gareth had a chance to fire again he was falling sideways, had he been hit?

The pistol fell from his grip and he found himself being dragged sideways from the car. He had forgotten to check all his surroundings! Allowing tunnel vision to take over he had forgotten to think about threats to the doors of the car. The searing pain from his temple informed him had had been pistol whipped, they most likely hadn't expected him to start shooting at their men. _Tough._

Mallory landed with a thud on the cracked tarmac, grunting as his already bruised ribs took a hit and razor sharp pieces of glass sliced through his suit to hit flesh. His abused head took another bang as his attackers simply dropped him in a heap.

"Shit he killed Ben!" An angered shout broke through the haze.

M brought his hand up to his eyes reflexively as the sunlight threatened to make his head explode, the ringing in his ears only truly becoming noticeable now the gunfire had stopped.

"Ben should have been paying more attention." A cold voice replied. "Take him."

Mallory opened his eyes in time to see two huge figures looming over him, he didn't think about his next moves he just reacted like he had been trained to.

His legs shot out forcibly both finding their targets at his attacker's ankles, the strike landed with enough force to make one loose his footing and stumble away. Gareth focussed on the more immediate threat, sitting to get leverage and hooking his leg round the man's feet and tripping him up in one swift move.

"Enough!" A commanding voice shouted accompanied by a burst of gunshots.

Mallory looked over and saw he was surrounded by no less than 6 masked assailants all with weapons cocked and aimed at him. _Okay that was pretty stupid…_ He mused, but it had felt good and clearly he had surprised them.

He raised his arms indicating surrender, and couldn't help but smirk at the goon he had tripped up. Said goon did not take the smirk well. Suddenly a fist was flying towards his face and he felt his head slam back into the pavement and tasted blood, not quite a broken nose but close.

"Get him in the van, we haven't got time for this." The obvious leader barked.

Mallory felt his arms being lifted without his control and soon he was being hauled upwards, none too gently either, by the goons he had tried to take out. When he finally managed to keep the darkness at bay Mallory glanced up and noted he was being dragged towards an awaiting black van. _Double shit._ This definitely wasn't an assassination then, it was a kidnapping.

He managed one look around at the chaotic scene of broken glass, fire and smashed up vehicles before he was flying again. Mallory landed with a grunt on the hard van floor and fire laced up his injured side with the impact, his head also received another unnecessary bump.

He was rolled onto his back quickly and found a weight on his lower half, in a matter of seconds everyone had clambered over him and the world was shut out when the side door slammed shut. With a squeal of tires and burning rubber they were away, shooting away from the scene of the crime with enough force that Mallory had to fight the overwhelming feeling to be sick again.

Distantly he heard police sirens and could still hear the chaos his abductors had left behind, screaming by-passers, screeching tyres and angry horns. He could only imagine the traffic that this incident would cause. _I'm being abducted and I think about the traffic?_ It was delayed shock he mused, his brain concentrating on the dull and mundane as his body tried to deal with all the flooded adrenaline.

M felt warm liquid trickle down his face and went to wipe it away when his wrist was snatched forcibly, and slammed down hard against the van surface. He gritted his teeth against the attack and snarled up at his captor.

"Don't move." Pistol goon barked accompanied by the cocking of a handgun which was shoved aggressively into Mallory's face. In Gareth's state he couldn't even work out if this was one of the men he had tripped. Keeping track of individuals would be problematic whilst his vision was this blurry.

Mallory laid still and returned the steely stare with the gunman as roaming hands danced down his body, retrieving his wallet, phone and watch along the way. Next they held him still and hovered a wand over all areas of his body looking for bugs and trackers. Gareth held his breath as the wand reached his left arm where he knew a GPS tracker sat under the skin, regrettably the damn thing beeped. He had to concede this gang was well prepared but then again he expected no different after the cleverly planned ambush.

Pistol goon smiled knowingly behind his mask as Mallory sighed when his tracker had been discovered, the wand found no other gadgets and regrettably there weren't anymore just the watch; phone and imbedded tracker. His arm was outstretched and a boot slammed down on his hand firmly holding the appendage in place, not that he could move anyway with his legs trapped and a gun inches from his nose. He suppressed a grunt as he felt his fingers grind beneath the man's boot.

In a quick movement a knife was at his arm and had sliced through his jacket and dress shirt, the blade nicked the skin as the fabric was ripped away. Knife goon felt around experimentally over his arm for the tracker and smiled when he felt the metal capsule, the knife cut into his skin but just deep enough to retrieve the metal tracker. The cut itself didn't hurt as much as Gareth expected it was the part after, when his captor dug around in the open wound to retrieve his last hope of being found.

His thoughts drifted to MI6 at this, would they already know about the attack and his disappearance by now? Would they panic when his GPS went offline? David had said communications were blacked out so he had no way of knowing if they were even aware of this massive cock-up. His memories threatened to replay his poor driver's final moments before Gareth was brought back to the present when knife goon finally found what he was looking for. He couldn't help but groan as knife goon finally extracted the small tracker, snapped it in two and passed it to another masked man, they seemed to be putting all of his belongings in a small bag.

"Wrap that, check for serious injuries then secure him." The one with the gun ordered whilst extracting himself from Gareth's lower body.

The next few seconds were a flutter of activity as he found himself stripped of jacket and tie so his captors could check for injuries whilst his cut arm was swiftly bandaged and sealed. It was interesting that they were taking time to check for injuries that they would have caused, clearly he was needed alive and mostly unharmed which didn't fill the head of MI6 with a lot of confidence for his comfort in the immediate future. The efficiency of the men as they manoeuvred around him led to a surprising deduction. He felt like he'd been in a similar situation before injured as a soldier in the back of a truck, these men were likely ex-services.

They clearly didn't find any extreme injuries as rough hands grabbed his shirt and flipped him over onto his stomach, the muzzle of a pistol jamming into his neck stalled any thoughts of struggling. Mallory didn't resist as his wrists were grabbed firmly and yanked behind his back before being secured with what felt like a zip tie.

His head swam again as his captors gripped his shoulders and hauled him unsteadily onto his knees, this time he felt the cool metal settle against his forehead strangely helping him ground his head to the present. Mallory felt a presence close behind him, they really weren't giving him any chances to try anything. The well-oiled team had all angles covered and had clearly done this before.

The gun withdrew a few inches but remained unwavering, steadily pointing at a spot between his eyes. Soon a string of cloth appeared from behind and a gruff voice ordered Mallory to open his mouth. He did as instructed and was soon tasting things he would rather not, the rag tasted of sweat and blood.

The gag was tied firmly in place behind his head with a not so gentle tug of the material, M didn't give them the satisfaction of making any sign of discomfort this time. The last thing he saw were the cold grey eyes behind the mask of the gun-wielder before a dark cloth stole his vision. The material was also tied tightly behind his head, sadly the blindfold didn't let a single slither of light in.

A rough shove from behind was accompanied with a command. "Down."

Gareth fell forward onto his front, holding back a groan as his bruised side impacted heavily with the unforgiving floor. He wanted to lay on his other side to alleviate some of the pressure but as he went to roll a solid boot landed on his back.

The surprise more than anything made him grunt. He felt the now all to familiar muzzle of a pistol being jammed into his back also. "Don't move."

They really weren't going to give him an inch, he probably had his little display outside the car to blame for that. Without the power of speech the only thing Mallory could do to show he was complying was to release the tension in his muscles and relax into the floor in his current position. His compliance obviously got through as the pistol retracted however the boot stayed exactly where it was and made itself known over every pothole and uneven road.

Now that the man-handling was over Mallory finally had a few moments to himself to assess the situation, subconsciously he had been keeping track of their vehicle's movements and felt fairly sure he could pin point their rough location. The van's constant stopping and starting meant they were most likely caught up in the morning's traffic, not that it was rush hour yet so the van could move relatively quickly for London's standards. He listened intently to the noises outside, disappointingly there were no sirens meaning they had probably got outside of the immediate area of the ambush, this would make it harder for MI6 to find him especially if they had only just found out about the abduction.

Just as Mallory felt his battered body drifting off the van took a sharp right causing a spike of pain as the boot pressed against his spine, he moaned into the gag as he once again wasn't prepared for the new ache. A few seconds later the van came to a complete stop and he heard numerous boots hit the ground and then the sliding doors open. His blindfold turned out to be extremely effective as the change in light from outside didn't penetrate the material nearly as much as he wanted it to.

It was no surprise when the boot was lifted off his back and arms were grabbing at his shoulders to haul him up and out, the question was had they reached their destination or was this a vehicle switch? Mallory had his money on the latter after observing the organisation of this operation. His thoughts concentrated on staying upright as he stumbled forwards, his captors didn't give him a moment to find his feet they simply dragged him forward.

He tried to keep track of noises and where each man went but it was an impossible task, he did hear multiple sliding doors open however which indicated numerous getaway vehicles. That was smart, more vehicles increased the difficulty of MI6 successfully tracking this gang's escape.

Mallory had a repeat performance as he got thrown into another van, he quickly tried to find himself a more comfortable position before a boot was pressed into his back. Luckily the men travelling with him entered after and didn't notice his readjustment, it didn't stop a boot from being pressed squarely against his lower back though as soon as everyone was seated. The outside world was shut out again and they were away. The entire vehicle exchange had taken less than 20 seconds, M was once again impressed by the men's organisation.

He imagined they had just been in some sort of underground parking or garage, most likely private to avoid prying eyes but he couldn't be sure. Annoyingly he hadn't picked up about the location as he was transferred which he supposed was rather the point.

Mallory let himself relax as much as he could into the floor, cataloging wounds whilst making sure to keep one part of his mind on the journey. One vital question continually raced through his mind. _How the hell am I going to get out of this one…_

* * *

 **A/N - This will be a multi-chapter fic, not sure how many yet but the next chapter will be uploaded as soon as it's gone through editing :)**

 **Until next time...**


	2. Chapter 2

Gareth continued to track their vehicle's journey as the traffic ambience decreased, they were heading out of London. He groaned as the boot pressed firmly into his back as the van took a sharp turn onto a different surface. The surface they were now driving on felt rough, more rural with dozens of pot holes and winding corners. It meant the boot's pressure didn't get alleviated causing a sharp ache to shoot up his spine.

A handful or so minutes later the van began to slow. Mallory tensed up involuntarily as he heard the engine cut and bodies getting out. It was then a repeat performance of earlier as the van's door was opened and he was dragged out into the world. M found his balance had suffered somewhat since the last vehicle change and almost went tumbling when his foot dragged on the door's edge. Only strong grips on his arms kept him upright.

Mallory had been keeping track of the van's movements and he had was pretty sure he knew roughly where he was, because of this he hoped they had reached their final destination. He found out a second later he was wrong. He was pulled to a stop and heard the unmistakable sound of a car boot opening.

 _Shit. This is going to be uncomfortable._

Before he could think anymore on the matter a harsh blow collided with the back of his head, Mallory grunted into the gag and felt his legs collapse. He felt his body being deposited and folded in the boot which disappointingly didn't offer much leg space. M's fight to remain conscious ended abruptly when the pistol descended on his head a second time.

* * *

 _Unknown time later…_

Gareth woke with a start swearing as his head smashed into something. It took him a few minutes to remember the events of the day and to try and convince his body not to panic at his confinement. He could barely move an inch in the small space, his legs were completely dead and tingled uncomfortably.

Mallory laid his head back gently and counted to ten as a wave of nausea shot through him, that was the last thing he needed right now and would probably lead to him choking with the gag still in his mouth. Several minutes passed as he took control of his body's trembling and willed his head to stop banging so hard. His thoughts drifted to his surroundings as his training kicked in; of course he had no idea how long he'd been knocked out for but the sounds around the car could give him a clue to his current whereabouts. He wondered what time it was.

The car seemed to be travelling at high speed which indicated main roads, the lack of other traffic was a good indication that weren't near any towns of cities. He listened carefully for any obvious sounds, hearing distant farm machinery and local wildlife. Definitely rural then. The surface changed abruptly to what felt like a dirt road which made the ride in the boot ten times more painful and difficult. Finally the car pulled to a stop.

The boot lid opened which gave Mallory a clue to the time of day, even with the blindfold on he could identify the change in light outside. It was most likely noon. His mind started ticking off which areas of the country he could be in after the length of travel time. Hands grabbed at his body and firmly lifted him up out of the boot, before he could find his feet the force let go. Mallory tumbled to the ground when his wobbly legs refused to support his weight, grunting as more bruises were added to the collection.

He could hear the men snicker before hands grabbed at his captive arms and pulled him upwards powerfully; he was marched forwards. M felt the surface under his feet change from loose stones to concrete and felt the loss of sun on his skin. He kept track of the lefts, rights and number of steps they descended down. His heart flew into his mouth as he almost tripped down the stairs when his guards failed to mention the obstacle; conveniently forgetting he was completely blind. He hissed as the pair holding him tightened their grip and wrenched him backwards. It felt like they had almost ripped his arms from their joints.

Mallory and the guards descended 2 flights of stairs before continuing onwards. The change in atmosphere lead M to conclude they were deep underground. The air felt moist, damp and cold; he shivered as the chilly atmosphere touched him.

He heard a lock being manipulated ahead followed by the creaking of a heavy door opening. Mallory was dragged past the door into a room which was noticeably colder. Dressed in just his shirt he already felt chilled, the crisp air was cutting through his flimsy clothes.

Suddenly he was spun round 180 degrees and swiftly punched hard in the gut. Mallory grunted and instinctively tried to double over as all of the air was forced out of his lungs. Distantly he felt the ties binding his wrist being cut apart. However before he could take advantage of this change in situation he was being pulled backwards by his arms with force. M felt his feet and legs failing him as the firm grips dragged him down. He landed heavily as the men forced his flailing body into a chair.

Mallory finally got enough breath back to think straight and started to pull back his arms from his captor's grips. The hands holding him were unrelenting, and he realised it would only be a matter of seconds before he was secured again and helpless. Sensing someone directly in front of him Gareth kicked out hard. He heard a satisfying smack when his foot collided with what felt like someone's leg and grinned inwardly at the following cry of pain.

His struggling was brought to a painful end when a fist found his stomach again. Mallory saw stars as he felt his rib buckle under the mighty blow, he desperately clawed for breath and renewed his efforts to double over for some relief. The hands holding his shoulders and arms were having none of it and he soon found his hands slammed down painfully onto the chair's arms.

Gareth froze entirely when he heard the unmistakable sound of a gun being cocked, the cold metal was pressed against his forehead until his shoulders were forced back enough to rest against the back of the chair.

"Hold him steady." A very pissed off voice commanded, probably the guy Mallory had just kicked.

Mallory focussed on getting his breath back as hands yanked his legs and arms into the correct positions. He felt his arms being tied to the chair with not one but two zip ties, then the same procedure was carried out for his legs. Unexpectedly a smooth metal bracelet of some kind was slipped onto his wrist and then he heard the sound of duct tape being unwound. The men began to wound the tape round M and the chair multiple times, round his midsection and shoulders effectively pinning him to the seat. He had to admit the binding sure felt effective.

Everything went quiet, eerily so as the men finished securing him. Boots moved away from his position and stilled. What were they waiting for?

"Remove the blindfold." A soft voice drifted across the room. Ah, clearly they were waiting for orders, this would be the man in charge then. "Then leave us."

Gareth felt fingers scrabble at the tie holding his blindfold in place before the material was lifted away. He blinked despite himself, blinded by the change in light. It took a few seconds for his eyes to adjust to the change; he was just happy he could see again. He watched as the guards left the room and saw the heavy door swing shut behind them, secured from the other side with a deafening clang.

Mallory's keen gaze swept over the room as he assessed the environment and the situation, the cell wasn't huge but it was well filled. Tables and surfaces took up most of the side space, all littered with equipment.

 _Torture instruments._ He reflected grimly as he spotted many sharp implements, tools and blow torches.

Taking his mind off the impending nightmare his eyes drifted to the only other occupant of the room, the boss. He had his back to Mallory and appeared to be cleaning and sorting an array of scalpels and knifes. _Yep, definite psychopath._

From this angle Mallory couldn't make out much about the man, he was pretty average looking. His mind reeled out the details he could see. Caucasian male, average build, average height, tanned skin indicating extensive foreign trips or work abroad, expensive watch on his wrist and the quality of the man's suit suggested wealth. Nothing special or distinguishable.

Mallory's attention was drawn away to a steady beeping on his right, that's when he noticed a screen with a regular heart beat displayed on it. He looked confused for a second before glancing down at the metal bracelet he had felt the guards slip on him earlier, very high-end stuff. Q would be interested in looking at this.

As the silence continued he flexed his hands and legs against the ties, disappointingly finding them very secure and ungiving. He wouldn't be going anywhere for quite some time.

"Welcome M." The smartly dressed man finally turned round, a fake smile plastered to his face. Mallory noted absently the man had a scalpel gripped tightly in his hand. "I can call you M can't I?"

Mallory knew the man was toying with him already, he knew damn well he couldn't reply with a gag in his mouth. M ignored the question entirely. His eyes roamed over his captor as he took in more details. The man was completely unmasked, not bothering to hide his features at all. He had a hard face, Mallory would describe it as battle-worn. He was especially drawn to the man's piercing eyes, they were intelligent, calculating and were currently focussed completely on Mallory. The guy funnily reminded Gareth of Bond.

The man continued unperturbed. "You can call me John if you like, of course that's not my real name."

With the lack of a voice Mallory deferred to glaring at 'John' who took the reaction in his stride.

"Your chair's secured to the ground by the way so don't bother trying to move it." The conversational tone fell into something more akin to a threat by the end. Mallory realised that's why he couldn't shift earlier when he had been testing the bonds.

John's intense gaze bore into Mallory's. Suddenly a grin pulled at his captor's lips and he pushed away from the wall. Scalpel held loosely at his side. "Sorry about all the drama. Certain security measures must be taken when dealing with someone of your position."

John strolled over to Mallory's chair swiftly and reached out to remove his captive's gag. The scalpel was still in his hand and was brushed against M's face deliberately. "I'm sure you understand."

Mallory ignored the presence of the scalpel entirely, knowing a reaction was exactly what John was looking for. "You clearly know who I am. So you don't need me to tell you how much shit you are in for kidnapping the head of MI6."

John's eyes sparkled happily as M spoke. He began to circle the chair slowly; the scalpel was trailing in his arm as it danced over M's clothes and skin, not with enough force to break the skin but the movement was clearly supposed to be unsettling. Mallory kept his gaze forward as the playful act continued. John was beginning to push buttons seeing what worked and what didn't.

"Oh I can imagine." He finally answered. Mallory didn't miss the slight disappointment at his own lack of reaction to the sharp instrument roving over his body.

Mallory frowned at the scalpel which was still hovering near his neck, he'd had enough with John's playfulness. "You don't seem to be taking this very seriously."

John's eyes flashed dangerously and his face hardened completely, he moved the scalpel to rest against the pulse-point in Mallory's neck. His tone dropped the comical edge. "Neither do you."

Mallory remained completely still as he felt the sharpness of the scalpel pressing, one wrong move now and it would slice through his throat. He smiled inwardly as John's crazed gaze bore into his own. He was much more comfortable with this behaviour from an interrogator. Mallory had found the real John, stripped back of all the jokes. M had no doubt that John could slice his throat and watch him drown to death in his own blood without even blinking, he recognised the danger and coldness in John's eyes.

John seemingly done with his assessment withdrew the scalpel an inch but remained close in Mallory's face. M responded as soon as the lethal instrument wasn't pressing up against his voice box. "I've been here before."

His captor barked out a laugh and grinned, suddenly happy again. These mood swings were going to be the death of Mallory, he could just feel it. "Yes I know. I've read your file."

John went back to picking and playing as he pressed the scalpel into Mallory's shirt, slicing off buttons and cutting threads absentmindedly. "I know all about your past. About the fun you've had with the Irish."

John's eyes flashed up when he mentioned Mallory's time at the hands of the IRA, he was clearly expecting a reaction. M didn't give John the satisfaction as he let the emotions wash over him, he deftly changed the subject.

"You know they will find us."

John pulled the scalpel back clearly irritated by the lack of reaction yet again. "Undoubtedly."

Mallory held his breath as John gripped the scalpel tighter, an idea suddenly struck the mad-man as his face lit up. M resisted the urge to flinch as with lightening-fast speed the deadly instrument was suddenly held up to his cheek, just below his right eye. John held it there for a second before pressing until M's skin was broken.

"But we don't need to worry about that now, protocols are in place and plans are in motion. For now at least I have you all to myself."

Mallory felt a burning sensation scrape down his cheek as he eyed the scalpel moving downwards, leaving a thin trickle of blood behind. M schooled his features with a small amount of difficulty, he acted as though there weren't a mad-man slicing into his face which was actually a lot harder than he expected.

John's calculating gaze searched M's features for anything, he even looked over at the heart monitor looking disappointed as normal values beeped back at him. "You know even though I was expecting this it's still impressive seeing it in the flesh. Being able to control your body's reactions in a situation like this is enviable."

John was clearly getting pissed off as he continued to get nothing out of Mallory. He leaned in closer, pressing the knife in further and further. Eyes searching Mallory's intensely. M's face felt like it had been set fire to, it was becoming near impossible to hold back any reaction to the agony but he held out.

"Nothing huh?" John muttered finally withdrawing the scalpel, a look of admiration flashed across his features briefly. "Man of steel."

Mallory attempted to move the conversation on, ignoring the blood trickling down his face. "You said you read my file?"

"Hmm" John nods with an affirmative sound looking bored again.

Mallory took the sound as a cue to continue, his captor now seemed to have lost interest with the scalpel. "So you know that the IRA held me for three months and didn't get anything. You are not going to have three months."

No matter how organised these guys seemed to be it was impossible to not leave a trace, if anyone could find him it would be MI6.

"Probably not." His captor admitted, backing away dejectedly to replace the scalpel on the far table.

"What makes you think you can break me when they couldn't?" Gareth liked to lead the interrogation, the longer he kept this guy talking and bored the less pain he was enduring.

Suddenly the atmosphere changed. John barked out a laugh, an 'I know something you don't know' laugh, that had Mallory on edge. The mad-man leaned nonchalantly against the table and prepared to play his trump card. "I have something they didn't." He smiled broadly at his own joke. "Or should I say someone."

Mallory's throat went dry in an instant, it didn't sound like a bluff. M's mind raced through all the possibilities, it could be anyone. Someone close to him?

John enjoyed the reaction he had been trying to get out of Mallory since he was dragged in. He touched his ear and issued an order. "Bring him in."

Seconds late the cell door slammed open making a racket as it careered into the wall. Several masked man carried a chair in and secured it to the floor facing Mallory's using some kind of latch system. M waited on the edge of his seat as a tall skinny man was bundled into the room with a mop of curly hair. He recognised the trussed up prisoner immediately.

 _No not Q._

 _How could they have found Q?_

Mallory distantly heard his heartbeat start to race as he sat horrified at the unfolding events. He clenched his hands together on the arms of the chair, scratching down on the wood as he felt the emotions tear through him. Disbelief, worry, rage, _fear._ He could feel their captor's intense stare burning into him from afar; he ignored it. His eyes never left Q as the man was treated to the same rough procedure he had been. Gareth winced as Q was gut-punched and slammed into the seat with excessive force, the young man was quickly bound identically to Mallory.

Q's blindfold was finally untied and Gareth watched as the young man took a few moments to adjust to the change in light. Q's confused eyes darted around the room briefly before landing on M and going wide. Mallory knew Q was looking for reassurance, god knows he had never been in any situation like this before. The problem was Gareth couldn't give Q the reassurance he needed, they were definitely not going to be okay.

The room remained deathly silent, that's when Mallory realised that Q's gag hadn't been removed otherwise the quartermaster would probably already be talking. Q had a habit of becoming too chatty when he was anxious which this situation would definitely fall in the category of. Only heartbeats could be heard faintly in the background, Mallory could hear they were both elevated. So much for not showing a reaction.

John stalked over to behind Q and dropped his hands onto the quartermaster's shoulders roughly, beaming at Mallory like a cheshire cat. Mallory couldn't help but tighten his hold on the chair.

"Welcome Q, your boss and I were just having an introductory chat." John ruthlessly dug his grip into Q's shoulders until the young man moaned into the gag. Mallory couldn't stop the tremor that ran through his muscles, he was actually shaking with rage. "It was most enlightening."

Abruptly their captor released his grip and sauntered to stand between the two men. Mallory struggled to keep looking at Q, he didn't know how long he could control his emotions if he were to look at the man still intent on baiting him.

"Aren't you going to say hello to your employee M?" Mallory couldn't take looking into Q's terrified eyes anymore. The kid was doing well at controlling himself so far considering he shouldn't be anywhere near a situation like this. But Mallory knew him well and could see Q was struggling to deal with the situation.

Their captor sighed dramatically. "He was all talk before you walked in. Such a shame."

John walked towards Mallory with a huge victory grin plastered over his face. "I like to think I'm a good study of human reactions. Five minutes ago M here was as cool as a cucumber."

John slowed when he reached Mallory's side, addressing Q with elaborate hand gestures. "Seriously, any doctor looking at his vitals would have assumed he was relaxing somewhere reading a good book. But look at him now."

Their captor reached out and grabbed M's chin in his grip, he harshly forced Mallory up to look at Q. Gareth stopped himself from showing any pain to the tight hold.

"As soon as you entered the room Q, his heart-rate spiked. His whole body tensed and can you see the tremors running through his hands?" Their captor chuckled as Mallory released his clenching fists. "The body can't help but react to fear like this."

John released his grip on Mallory's jaw abruptly, moving to crouch in front of Gareth's chair, cutting off M's view of Q.

"You were already preparing yourself to find that dot on the wall weren't you? A little spot to focus on and block it all out out. Block out the pain, block out me. You were completely ready to pretend that you'd died, that's what you did last time wasn't it?"

Mallory swallowed as their captor broke down his train of thoughts completely, that was what had been running through his mind before Q changed everything. It was what he had been trained to do. How could he do that when it was going to be Q's screams?

John leaned forward until they faces were almost touching. "It's not so easy blocking everything out when it's not you being hurt, when it's not you being tortured within an inch of your life."

Mallory glared into the eyes of the sadist, he recognised that John was enjoying making him squirm. John was clearly also looking forward to making good on his threats, and he was revelling in terrifying Q. It made Gareth want to rip his heart out, right there and then. He would have done anything to get his hands around John's neck.

Their captor leaned back from Mallory and sat between the two captive's chairs, Mallory stole a quick glance over at Q and saw the same fear he felt reflected back in the young man's eyes.

"Look at him sitting there trying to imagine what this is going to be like, desperately recalling his training." John mocked heartlessly, pointing over at Q.

He addressed M seriously. "You know better than most how he is going to feel. How he is going to beg for death, it's truly indescribable."

Gareth closed his eyes and tried to ignore the goads, tried to breathe normally even though in the distance he could hear his racing heart, the sound betraying him. Their captor had finally found and was pushing all his buttons. He felt an overwhelming feeling overcome all of his senses, guilt. Q shouldn't be here, he shouldn't be going through this.

"I'm curious, how many days in Ireland did you last before wishing for death?" This guy was like a predator, he had drawn blood and was intent on following the trail. "The beatings, the cuttings, the burning, the drowning…" He ended the speech right in Mallory's face.

The final threats were clearly aimed to unsettle and scare Q and it was the last straw for Mallory. He snapped, just like their captor wanted him to.

"I want you to listen to me very carefully." He growled, leaning forward to meet the man's smirking face.

Their captor beamed with joy at the reaction he had been waiting for. "Ah! He speaks, I'm all ears M."

Mallory fuelled all of his rage into his next words, meaning every part of it. "I am going to kill you. It will be slow and excruciating."

John remained perfectly still, blinked once then tilted his head as if mulling the sentence over. The tension in the cell was palpable. Finally he grinned, the bastard had actually just genuinely smiled. Not like the fake expressions he had been showcasing during the interrogation, this one properly reached his eyes.

"Wow… that was intense." Their captor breathed out heavily. Mallory snorted at the sarcastic tone. "No really, I'm actually a bit scared." John leaned back a bit reassessing his captive, maybe he was even reacting to Mallory's threat more seriously. "And you mean it don't you? If you got free right now you would rip me apart."

Mallory answered immediately, intense stare boring into their captor. "In a heartbeat."

Gareth didn't think he could feel more murderous, that was until the man whispered his next words cruelly. "Just imagine how you'll feel when you hear him scream."

John sprang to his feet and M suddenly remembered it wasn't just the two of them in the room. Glancing over at the quartermaster he noted the young man looked worried, but in control at least for now. Hopefully Q hadn't let the threats of torture get to him. Mental torture, the threat of the thing, was sometimes even worse than the actual act.

Their captor suddenly remembered the quartermaster's presence too, bounding over to him. "My apologies Q, let me get that for you." He reached out and pulled the gag from Q's mouth. Q didn't react or flinch to the touch. "I'm afraid I got carried away there."

The man slapped Q's knees harshly. "I hope you haven't been too uncomfortable."

Q glared directly into their captors smirking face. "I'm just peachy thanks."

Wow, even Mallory was impressed by how steady Q's voice had just sounded then. Maybe it would be wise to not underestimate the young man, just because he wasn't a field agent didn't mean he couldn't handle an interrogation. Then again the dynamics of a shared interrogation were something either man hadn't experienced so who knew what was going to happen?

"Good, good." John smiled before motioning to the silent guards whose presence had been forgotten. "Hook him up."

Gareth watching warily as the masked men wheeled a trolley towards Q with what looked a car battery on top. _Oh no…_ Q had clocked the machinery too and visibly gulped when the men began untangling the jump leads.

"You never answered my question M." John's words nearly fell upon deaf ears, seeing the equipment had made their nightmare real.

"What?" He asked annoyed, the last thing he wanted to be doing now was making small talk whilst Q was being prepared for electrocution.

"How many days?"

Mallory looked from their captor's stupid smirk to Q as the masked men ripped open his shirt and attached the jump cables to his body.

"Piss off." He had nothing more to give to this man, he wouldn't play this game any longer.

John indicated to one of the men milling at the side of Q's chair who promptly turned and punched Q across the jaw, hard. Mallory gasped at the brutality of the attack. Q grunted after the surprise assault, blood dripping from his mouth as the masked man retook his place at his side.

John grabbed Mallory's jaw harshly, forcing him to look at him. "Do you see how this is going to work now? You don't answer my questions he gets hurt and vice versa."

Their captor let M's jaw go and towered over the seated man.

"You strike me as somebody who wouldn't give a damn if you get hurt, but it's very different when someone else pays for your mistakes. Someone whose safety and well-being you are responsible for."

Mallory stole a glance at Q now John was no longer blocking his line of sight. Q looked shaken, possibly from the actual start of violence but most probably from the hum coming off the battery. The men had finished fiddling so he was clearly ready to be electrocuted. The whole thing seemed like some kind of sick dream to Mallory, if he could just wake up…

John clapped his hands together and took off his jacket, hanging it near the other instruments of torture. "Anyway lets get down to business. I imagine that you have both guessed why you are our guests here."

M and Q's silence didn't deter John in the slightest. "Well my employer need's information that the two of you have. I probably don't need to tell you which project I'm talking about. It's top secret, hush-hush; the two of you are among just a handful of people who know anything about it."

M didn't miss the word employer, it seemed that his initial impression of this group was correct. They were just guns for hire. Q's sudden outburst shocked Mallory and stopped John in his tracks, the quartermaster started _laughing._

"You do realise you have just described everything I have ever worked on."

Once Q explained his reaction, M understood what the young man found so funny. He even felt a smile tugging at his own lips. He should have known Q wouldn't be able to refrain from being a smart-ass. It pissed off most people back at HQ and by the thunderous expression adorning John's face it had pissed him off to.

A moment later the electricity was turned on. M knew it was coming but it still didn't prepare him for the rush of emotions that flooded his body as Q screamed and thrashed. He felt so helpless just sitting there, watching it happen. Mercifully after a few seconds John indicated for the men to stop and Q's head slumped against his chest, lungs gasping for air.

John ignored Q's agony and continued with his speech. "Okay let me be specific. I'm talking about the project with the codename Eureka."

Mallory had to catch himself from saying anything, how the hell did these people even know the project exists? Who the hell were they?

John waited silently giving the two of them piercing evaluations to check for reactions. Q's head was still slumped forward but M knew that the young quartermaster had heard the codename. Even he didn't miss the spike on Q's heart-rate monitor.

John smiled with satisfaction as he clearly saw what he wanted. "Very good, you have been trained well. Your reactions were almost undetectable. Your silence speaks volumes though."

 _Great now this sadist thinks he's a comedian…_

Every time Mallory thought the situation couldn't get any worse, it did. Just this group knowing about the existence of the project was a serious breach of national security, let alone if they found anything else out. He and Q knew the seriousness of the project. It simply could not fall into enemy hands, the world would not recover.

"Anything to say gentlemen?" John beamed, pleased with himself at the turn of events.

Mallory remained impassive and sat in stony silence as he mulled over how much shit he and Q were really in, when the young quartermaster decided on a different tact.

"Yes actually. I have a friend who is very proficient with a gun and I can't wait to watch him cut you all to pieces."

 _Oh Q…_

Mallory's heart ached as he saw John indicate for the inevitable. Q arched against the chair as much as his bonds would allow, crying out against the currents. M snapped his eyes shut tightly, he selfishly couldn't watch his friend's pain-wracked features. Eventually the agonised screaming stopped. M opened his eyes to see Q was shaking all over, his hair hanging in loose curls all over the young man's face. Breaths coming in short sharp bursts.

"You know Henry. I don't know whether you're brave or just stupid."

Q blinked, startled at the use of his given name. So did Mallory. No-one knew Q's name, no-one outside of MI6.

"How do you know his name? no-one should know his name." The words flew out of his mouth before he could stop them. The information that this group had access to was truly staggering, worrying and eye-opening. They had a serious problem.

John grinned at the two men's reaction, he clearly loved being in control. "I know his name the same way I knew where I could get to him, the same way I knew your route to work, and the same way I know all of your security protocols. You seem to have an intelligence leak M."

Mallory's mind raced at the implication, it could either be one of two things. They had been compromised and people had hacked into their systems, or they had a mole. Either way it was a bloody disaster. John started pacing round the two captives slowly, allowing the pair to get their heads round the situation.

"So M. I'm going to need some information from you. I need to know who else knows about the project. What countries are involved and exactly what the progress is. And from you Q, I need you to recreate it for me."

John came to a stop between them both, looking from M to Q. "Before this is all starts getting messy and painful. I will ask you both now. Are you going to comply?"

Q dragged his head up painfully, breathing still laboured from the last shock. He looked directly at M.

"Don't give this bastard anything M."

Mallory stared at Q, really stared at him and found the answer to John's previous question. Q wasn't being stupid, he was being incredibly brave and was making the ultimate sacrifice to keep England safe. Q's strength fuelled M's convictions, they both knew the consequences of failing this test. M just hoped they could hold out long enough for this nightmare to be over. He was no idiot. For all the bravado it was a known fact that everyone broke, you just had to find their limits.

"Go to Hell." He finally spat at John.

John looked angered for a second before cheering up at the prospect of their upcoming torture, the man was a bonafide sadist.

Their captor turned to the interrogators. "You may begin, remember don't damage his hands or eyes. He'll need them later to create Eureka."

"Not bloody likely." Q muttered defiantly.

John grinned at the statement, pulled up a chair and sat down to watch the torture. Q nodded once to M before his body started convulsing. Mallory forced his eyes to remain open as the quartermaster thrashed against his restraints. If Q could sit there and take the torture then he could bloody well suck it up and watch. He would not abandon Q, they were in this together.


	3. Chapter 3

White noise, babies screaming, tortured howling. These were the only noises Mallory heard for god knows how long, on a loop. At first he tried to block out the disturbing sounds but after some time he realised it was no good, it was just too damn loud to do that. Every part of him ached and burned with every breath he took, with every tremor that ran through his freezing body.

He reflected back on everything he and Q had been through since this nightmare started, it felt like it was weeks ago but he was pretty sure that couldn't be right. John and his interrogation team had started with the electricity, swapping focus from M to Q on a whim. M remembers the feeling when the currents were running through him, he thinks he can still feel an echo of the liquid fire now. The flames running through his veins, reaching all his nerves and lighting them up. The rest of their time was a bit of a blur if he was honest, all he could remember for sure was the agony.

M could only remember flashes clearly, the worst of it all. The sight of blood as knives cut deeply into muscle and skin, the stench of burning as heated metal scorched skin, the nauseating sound of bone's cracking under the weight of a beating. As Gareth shifted he gasped aloud, feeling his own broken bones shift inside his chest. He had lost count how many things were broken, how many times he had been cut, burnt, beaten. It got to the point when it was just academic, he was in agony. It was as simple as that.

John had been right though earlier, it hurt ten times more watching Q being tortured. Mallory wished he would be chosen every time John came back for questioning, he didn't know how much longer he could handle Q's yells. Each time he looked into the quartermaster's eyes he saw the early defiance being chipped away bit by bit, they were breaking him down and by association M too.

Gareth banged his shoulders back against the chair yelling as the sounds in his headphones changed to the torture sounds. This was by far the worst one, it reminded him too much of Q's screams, it was like it was happening continually and it would never stop. He couldn't even see his friend to see how he was doing, the blindfold took care of that. This is how they were left between interrogation sessions. Mallory recognised the technique, sensory deprivation to stop them resting and recovering, to disorient them. It had clearly worked, Mallory didn't have a clue how long they'd been sat there for. He only knew that this was the fourth time he and Q had been left with the sensory deprivation.

The indication that their interrogators were back was a bucket of ice cold water thrown over him, the headphones and blindfold were taken away and the questions would start again. The whole routine was effective, even now Mallory felt it difficult to relax his muscles as he waited for the bucket of water knowing it would come without warning at any time. The mental torture was proving to be almost as difficult as the physical.

Much to their captor's annoyance though, he and Q hadn't said a word. How much longer that lasted for was anyones guess but for now it was good enough.

Mallory jumped as the ice water crashed into his broken body, he gasped as his bones jarred with the sudden movement. He felt his heart beat begin to race faster as it always did now when he knew John was back. The headphones and blindfold was removed and Mallory began the familiar routine of readjusting his senses to the room. His eyes found Q's and a weight was lifted off his chest as he noted the quartermaster was just how he left him when the headphones had gone on, he always worried he would wake up and Q would be gone.

John strolled into the room followed by some men carrying some new equipment, it looked like containers of water and a couple of towels.

 _Shit._

M sincerely hoped he was wrong about the deduction he had just made but he doubted there could be any other use for the materials, they were going to drown them. Mallory shook his head clear of unwanted resurfacing images from his past, waterboarding was a particular favourite of the IRA and had left their mark on him psychologically far above anything else.

Mallory's attention shifted to John as he noted the man hadn't spoken yet, there was something in his eyes that looked unfamiliar. M observed how wooden the interrogator seemed to be, perhaps John was beginning to feel outside pressure over his lack of results? He did seem to grow more agitated every time he returned for another session; he also seemed to up the game each time.

John's cold eyes landed on him finally with his usual penetrating gaze, searching for weakness. The interrogator turned his back on M and gave Q the same treatment. Mallory noted the change in body language and realised John must have seen something in Q's eyes, maybe he noticed what Mallory had. Q was struggling.

Decision made John motioned for the guards to Mallory's side. Gareth realised this meant he was the one to undergo the torture, he was half relieved that he wouldn't have to see Q go through this and half petrified of reliving this part of his life he'd hoped he'd buried long ago.

"Have you heard of water-boarding Q?"

Q ignored his captor, dead eyes staring straight ahead. Of course he had heard of it, and of course he knew what awaited them when the men brought the containers of water in just as Mallory had. Q didn't miss his boss's reaction to the equipment, clearly this resonated with the past for him. It did for Q too. When he was a young boy Q had actually drowned and had to be brought back, he would never forget the feeling of dying. Clawing at his throat as his lungs screamed for air and the blackness descended. John knew a lot but Q prayed and prayed that he didn't know his secret.

Q felt tremendous guilt weigh him down as he felt thankful it wasn't him who was going to be drowned, instead he had to watch. On reflection perhaps they were just as bad as each other. He could see M tremble as the guards unlatched his chair and lowered him to the ground so he was lying flat on his back, they rotated the chair so Q would have full view of the nightmare.

"It's a fascinating practise really, drowning without being in water."

Q squeezed his eyes shut as images from his own past threatened to overwhelm him, that was the last thing he needed now flashbacks to torture himself. John was already doing a darn good job of it.

John motioned for the guards to wait when they had everything prepared, he gripped Q's head tightly forcing Q to open his eyes. "Now Q, I'm afraid I'm going to need some information from you now. This cannot go on. I need to know the exact purpose of the program and exactly what progress MI6 has made."

Q shook his head vigorously, he didn't know much within his frazzled mind right now but something was screaming at him to say no. Whatever pain clung to him the one resolute thought remained, don't tell this bastard anything.

John released his grip and sighed heavily, Q thought he spied a flash of anger cross the mad-man's face but he couldn't be sure. He was exhausted and was probably just seeing things.

"Fine." John's face turned hard. "Then this is on you."

John nodded at the guards who held a towel between them over M's face, they pulled down hard on the material until Q could see his friend was struggling to breathe. The container was tipped up and water began to slosh down over M's face and onto the material blocking his airways, Q tensed as Mallory began to thrash against the treatment but the men's firm grip and the restraints held steady.

Q watched horrified as the scene continued, he could hear M's garbled outcries as he was drowned alive. Finally when Q thought M was beginning to weaken, the guards lifted the towel off of his face and leant the chair up slightly. M gasped greedily for air and coughed up a hell of a lot of water from his lungs, more water than Q could imagine. He could see M's face etched with agony and sympathised as he realised the coughing must be jarring his ribs horribly. Before Q could say anything M was slammed back down on his back and they started again. Q felt numb.

"Do you know what's happening to him now?" John asked conversationally as he pulled up a chair to sit beside Q. "The towel blocks his access to oxygen so no relief there. Then the water falls straight through the towel down into his lungs. Essentially he's drowning without ever being underwater."

Mallory is allowed to breathe and cough out water again, less time than before. The poor man looked exhausted.

"It's fascinating really."

Q couldn't help himself, how could John sit there like this when they watched the feeble struggles from a man being drowned in front of them. "You sick bastard." He spat.

John turned to look at him. "I'm not the one who can stop this Q."

Q shut his eyes and shut out the voice in his head, he wished he could fall into the darkness. His heart was screaming at him to help M, his head was telling him he couldn't. It was an inner battle that he was losing with every struggle he could hear from the other side of the room.

"Just tell me what I need to know and we can stop this. M can breathe again." John leaned into whisper in Q's ear, it was so tempting.

"I can't." Q cried, gritting his teeth together wishing he could block out the sound.

John's harsh grip was suddenly on his face. "Open your eyes Q and look at what you're doing to him!"

Q opened his eyes as the grip became painful, he looked over at Mallory who was in-between sessions. Christ the man sounded terrible, there was a permanent rattle in M's chest and it looked like he was having real trouble getting any oxygen into his lungs. The guards took no mercy and carried on without sympathy.

"Just tell me, and we can end the drowning."

Q resorted to biting his tongue, not sure if he could trust it to not spill the answers he so desperately wanted to. John sighed heavily at his silence.

"Drown him." He ordered the guards who had just allowed Mallory another break.

Q caught M's terrified gaze as he heard the order too before he was buried under the towel again.

"You can't kill him." Q stuttered quickly, heart hammering too loudly. "You need him alive."

Even as he said the words he realised that he had no idea what John could and could not do, would he really go that far?

John tapped absentmindedly against the arms of his chair, "Well you see Q, I'm starting to think I need to re-evaluate things. What's useful to me and what isn't."

Q couldn't tell if the man was bluffing or not but he wasn't telling the guards to stop and M's thrashings were becoming more feeble with every passing second, they were really killing him. He couldn't let M die but he couldn't help John, for the first time in his life he felt truly lost. What the fuck was he going to do?

Q's heart leapt into his mouth as M flatlined and stopped moving, the bastards had actually drowned him.

"Bring him back!" Q screamed at John, shaking with rage and desperation.

John suddenly stood up kicking his chair back in the process. "Not until you tell me what I want Q."

Q looked over at Mallory's body as the flat-line sound coming from his monitor taunted him. He looked so still, so wrong. Q couldn't let him stay dead, he couldn't do this without M.

"I'll tell you our progress." He bargained desperately.

John shook his head and laughed. "This isn't a negotiation Q, I need the purpose and the progress."

Q's eyes fell back on Mallory's still form, he could see the man was turning pale. How long ago had it been since his heart had stopped beating?

John checked his watch casually. "You'd better hurry Q, brain damage will kick in soon."

The quartermaster made a split-second decision as he stared into M's lifeless eyes, one he was sure Mallory would berate him for but screw it. He couldn't live with himself if he didn't do this.

"I'll tell you!" He screamed at John. "Just bring him back…"

John assessed the quartermaster for a brief moment and clearly saw that Q was telling the truth. He turned to the men and ordered them to bring M back. Q watched in numb shock as the men that had killed Mallory now fought to save his life. He noted how efficient they all were as they pumped down on M's chest in perfect rhythm, these men had clearly done this before.

Q waited on the edge of his seat for what felt like hours as M continued to not respond, he didn't take his eyes off the man as his body rocked from each compression. Finally a cough and the beep of a heartbeat echoed in the room, the men rolled M's chair to the side as the man hacked up all the water from his lungs and gulped oxygen back into his starved body. They kept him on his side for a while and checked the monitor to ensure the vitals were stable, when John was satisfied that M was back he ordered the men to return the chair to it's original position.

Q tried to catch M's eye as he was hauled upright but his boss had his eyes tightly shut and appeared to be in agony, he coughed and coughed but the wheezing barely dissipated and he could still only snatch small pockets of air.

John stalked back towards Q and knelt right in front of him, holding out a tape recorder towards Q's mouth.

"I've done my part. Now it's your turn."

Q felt numb as he answered John's question emotionlessly. He had made a deal with the devil, John had found a chink in his armour and was now busy stabbing him through the heart. He felt nothing as secrets tumbled from his lips into the voice recorder, his attention only really on one thing. M. He needed to see his friend's eyes, alive. He couldn't get the image out of his head of the lifeless look in M's eyes, it wasn't something he ever wanted to see again.

John smiled when Q finished and mentioned something about checking the details out, Q didn't listen he didn't care anymore. Soon the two were left alone in the cell. M still hadn't looked up at him.

"M?" Q's voice sounded petrified to his own ears, who knew what damage had been caused with the oxygen starvation that Mallory had suffered.

Q watched as M painfully dragged his head up and opened his exhausted eyes, exhausted but alive. Q had never been so relieved in all his life to see the familiar sparkling blue gaze. M tried to speak but it only set off a painful coughing fit where more water was hacked up, eventually he managed to rasp out words.

"Q, what the fuck did you do?"

Q looked into his friend's eyes expecting anger, instead he saw pity, he saw worry.

"I told him what he wanted to know." Q answered dejectedly, funnily he didn't feel ashamed about it at all. He felt nothing about it, if he had to replay the decision again he would make the same one.

M's shoulders sagged and his whole body language changed, he looked defeated. "Q." He paused to cough more, at least his lungs were starting to sound better. "You shouldn't have done that, not for me."

Q looked into Mallory's face and he suddenly felt anger, how could he not have done it?

"You died M! Dead on the floor, lifeless eyes staring at me." He screamed at his friend, willing him to understand. "He wasn't going to bring you back…"

M looked visibly shocked by the last part, perhaps they had both overestimated their value to John. Not to mention their interrogator was clearly on a timetable which was effecting the intensity of the interrogation each time, perhaps now the only thing the man had left was death.

"Q…" M began in one of his tones that Q recognised all too well, the 'my life is not important' tone.

The young quartermaster felt his rage flare again. "No M, don't you dare say it. Can you sit there and tell me that you would have left me dead on the floor?"

"That's not the point Q!" Mallory snapped back harshly, not appreciating the images Q was putting in his head.

"It's exactly the point!" Q countered harshly. "You can't evade this question Gareth."

M closed his eyes as another coughing fit wracked his body, jostling several broken ribs in the process. When he got over the episode he looked over at Q to see the man was still waiting patiently on an answer. There was nothing else for it, Q deserved honesty. "No, I couldn't sit there and let you remain dead."

Q's expression grew softer after the admission, his posture sagging with relief as his actions were reciprocated. "Then how could you expect me to?"

They both knew M was the stronger out of the two, the one who actually stood a chance of holding out under questioning. If Mallory couldn't do it then naturally Q stood no chance. He felt broken, mentally and physically. M being alive was the only thing keeping him from descending into madness, if he were alone…

M stared at him with such guilt and sorrow that it almost broke Q's heart. "I'm sorry Henry, I'm so sorry you're here."

Before Q could say anything in return the cell door slammed open and two guards walked in carrying headphones and blindfolds.

 _No anything but this._

Q screamed and yelled, thrashing wildly against his bonds as the headphones were slipped over his ears. The last thing he saw was M's anguished face before the blindfold stole his sight.


	4. Chapter 4

Mallory felt tears prickling at the corners of his eyes as he battled to stay in control of the emotions threatening to destroy him. His only blessing was the blindfold. The blindfold cut off anyone from seeing his tears, the headphones drowned out Q's cries. It was only a small blessing as Gareth couldn't get the last image of the quartermaster out of his head, Q screaming for it all to stop, his eyes broken.

The deafening sounds coming from the headphones had no effect this time, Mallory had finally learned to block out the noise. The only problem was it was being replaced by a worse noise inside his mind, Q's screams. He suddenly realised that he was struggling not to break down and sob, if Q had broken then what was the point anymore?

 _Stop thinking like that. He needs you to be strong._

The stubborn reminder came from deep within his mind, from a part of him he had thought he'd said goodbye to a long time ago. The part of him that survived Ireland. M took a shuddering breath in as he allowed the words to wash over him, empowering his resolve and will. Just hold on a bit longer, just a bit longer. That's what he had to do, keep going until…

Well until he was dead or help came.

He was interrupted rudely by the shock of icy water crashing into his face, his mind panicked for a few moments as he flew back to the feeling of drowning. It was suddenly so difficult to breath, his chest tightened in panic as he expected the next lungful to be his last before the towel came back down…

 _Snap out of it! You're not drowning!_

The harsh voice inside of him screamed, it was like a slap to the face and served its purpose. As his blindfold and headphones were removed Mallory forced himself to take slow deep breaths, coughing and grimacing as the simple act of breathing set his insides aflame.

He opened his eyes tiredly and immediately sought out Q. _Shit shit shit._ If it were at all possible the quartermaster actually looked worse, he was barely reacting to the change in light and sound. He looked vacant and the young man's eyes had lost their intelligent spark.

Mallory felt hatred like never before, his whole body trembled with outrage at what these monsters had done to Q. They had broken him.

M ignored John as he sauntered back into the cell, if he saw that stupid triumphant smirk one more time he didn't think he'd be able to stop screaming at the man. He didn't think he'd be able to stop struggling until his hands were round the mad-man's throat, damage to himself be damned. The bastard needed to pay for what he had done to Q.

Finally Q registered his surroundings and additions to the room, his eyes darted round terrified as the men began to unlatch his chair. They both knew what this meant, it was Q's turn. M tried to catch the younger man's eyes to try and calm him but Q was lost in himself, he thrashed wildly against the chair and Mallory winced when he saw fresh blood seep from the young man's wrists.

Mallory distantly heard a chair being pulled up next to his and turned to watch John, the man was staring at Q's predicament with an unbelievable level of detachment. Seconds later Q was flat on his back with men gathered round him ready to begin, everyone froze.

John finally broke the silence. "Do you really think he can take much more of this M?"

 _No._ His brain supplied immediately, if he could see Q was done then surely so could John.

"Give me the information I need and this will all be over."

Mallory found himself leaning towards the comforting offer, the temptation was overwhelming. The little voice screaming in his head to just hold on was being drowned out, it wasn't just about him this time. He looked at Q again hoping to see anything that suggested the quartermaster was strong enough to continue. Mallory noticed Q had averted his eyes and smiled sadly at the action, he didn't want M seeing the defeat there. He didn't want to make this any harder on M than it had to be.

Gareth had clearly stayed silent for too long as he heard John order the men to begin. He watched horrified as the men picked up the water containers and moved to block Q's airways.

"No… Please no…" Q's heartbreaking pleas were silenced ruthlessly by the towel and soon all M could hear was the young man's struggles as he fought against his captors for breath.

"I don't know how much you know about Q's past." John began conversationally, M could barely hear him. He couldn't take his eyes off Q. "But did you know he drowned once as a child, still has nightmares about it now according to psych reports. This must be very traumatising for him."

 _Shut-up!_ M's head screamed as John pushed and pushed.

The guilt was overwhelming him, the remorse, the agony at watching his friend suffer. M felt his whole body shake as Q's struggles weakened. He then realised one terrifying thing, they weren't letting Q come up for air.

"You're killing him!" He screamed at John incredulously.

John looked over at Q's near lifeless form and nodded at the guards, finally the towel was removed and Q's chair was tilted upwards as the young man fought for breath. Mallory watched horrified as Q heaved in precious breath and saw the quartermaster's petrified eyes darting round in confusion.

John grabbed Mallory's jaw and forced him to look at him, M shivered as he saw the lack of anything in the man's eyes.

"Tell me M. Or I'll let them go all the way."

M couldn't believe what he was hearing, they needed Q he knew that. Distantly he could hear the quartermaster's sobs as he struggled to recover and breathe again.

"You won't do that." M whispered, almost not believing it himself. "You need him alive."

John's grip became painful and Mallory winced as he saw a flash of rage cross the crazed man's face.

"We will drown him over and over again, each time he's brought back he will wish for death more. We won't let him die."

The words were edged with such malice that it caused M to flinch in John's hold. He stared into John's remorseless eyes and saw that he was telling the truth, he would really go that far. Mallory realised he was trembling, he was afraid. He knew then he couldn't watch Q being killed over and over and he knew damn well the kid couldn't handle being drowned continually.

Mallory's brain froze as he realised what he was saying, he was about to give John everything he needed. When he opened his mouth to speak he heard no sound come out, something was holding him back and he didn't know what. John saw it too.

"Drown him." He ordered harshly.

Q's sobs died as he screamed and yelled against the towel descending on his face. M felt his heart breaking at the sight, he had to stop this.

"Wait!" He roared at the men about to tip the container over Q's head.

Silence echoed around the room as the men stopped in their tracks and M held his breath waiting for John to intercede. Worryingly Q had gone quite still under the men's hold.

"Remove the towel." John ordered and M felt unparalleled relief as he saw his friend take in one shaky breath after another.

John stood in front of M, tape recorder in his hands ready. "Well?"

Mallory couldn't believe he was doing this but he couldn't allow Q to suffer such a heinous fate, he wished John had left him dead on the floor after he had been drowned. M saw the impatience creeping into John's features, and realised he couldn't keep the man waiting any longer otherwise the retribution for Q would be swift and merciless.

"I…" He began quietly as he resigned himself to defeat.

An interruption halted his next words. The ground shook violently and the lights in the room flickered, Mallory heard a distant rumble and recognised an explosion had just gone off. Could it be?

The flicker of alarm and fear in John's eyes almost cemented the answer in M's head, MI6 had found them. John paced over to a far wall and began speaking urgently to voices on the other end of communications, recorder and questioning seemingly forgotten. The other guards in the room exchanged nervous glances as they all heard further explosions and gunfire echoing at some distance. The sounds were slowly growing closer though…

Mallory observed almost in disbelief as John quickly ordered all but one man out of the room to the main control hub, the men all scarpered in a flash. M couldn't help but grin as he watched John pace and noted that for the first time that he was not in control.

"Trouble?" Mallory asked innocently.

John pivoted on the spot and charged over to M fist raised. The fist hit his jaw and he felt a tooth loosen inside but the only reaction he could manage was laughter, which really pissed John off. The mad-man grabbed M by his shirt and leaned in menacingly.

"My men and I are going to deal with this problem. When we get back, we are going to drown Q over and over again."

M felt the smile slip off his face at the threat, now he felt rage. The familiar fury was growing in his stomach and he silently wished John wouldn't die up above. He wanted to make this man feel just a fraction of what Q had felt before he sent him to hell.

John roughly released his hold on Mallory's shirt and turned to flee the room, just when Q decided to be a smart-ass again.

"Say hello to 007 for me." The quartermaster started laughing.

Mallory was seriously concerned that Q had utterly lost it but it was certainly nice to see just a glimpse of the old quartermaster back, the kid could never help himself. M almost laughed at the comment, that was until John unsheathed his knife strode towards Q and plunged it deeply into the young man's shoulder.

"Q!" Mallory shouted desperately as his friend's cries resonated around their cell.

"I'll bring you his head." John sneered before storming out of the room, leaving his knife embedded deeply inside Q. His final order was directed to the final guard to watch over the prisoners.

Mallory's previous joy at the appearance of MI6 had been dampened, he watched aghast as a worryingly pool of blood formed around Q's shaking body. The quartermaster had his eyes squeezed tightly shut, most likely attempting to regulate his breathing to slow the blood loss.

"You've got to get that knife out of him, check the wound." Mallory stammered at the only remaining guard who kept casting nervous glances towards the nearing gunfire.

The guard shook his head vigorously. "Boss said to watch."

Mallory felt like punching the idiot in the head. "Yeah and what if he bleeds to death?! Think about how angry your boss would be if that happened!"

M implored the fool to listen to his logic, it was highly unlikely that this man would ever feel John's wrath but if Q's artery had been hit then they couldn't afford to sit and wait for agents to reach them. The guard battled with the idea for a few more moments before rushing over to Q's side and looking at the wound.

Mallory waited silently on the edge of his seat as he watched the man expertly assess the seriousness, finally making a decision the man pulled out the knife swiftly and threw it behind him. Q groaned loudly at the action and hissed when pressure was applied to the area. The guard quickly and efficiently tied a towel around Q's shoulder's keeping the bleeding under control.

"Didn't hit an artery." The man finally announced before returning to his posting near the door, not giving his prisoners any more attention.

Mallory breathed out a sigh of relief at the news, he could see from his position that Q's bleeding was slowing so it wasn't a fatal wound, yet. Still best to keep the quartermaster awake and talking.

"Q, how are you doing?" It was a pretty stupid question but it seemed to amuse Q who actually cracked a smile.

Q's pain-filled eyes opened and met Gareth's. "Better, now he's here."

M knew he referred to 007, he knew the pair had grown close over the years and he wasn't oblivious enough to miss the rumours about the duo. Mallory smiled at the change in Q, against all odds he was becoming his old self. Mallory had been deeply worried that Q was too far gone, it had to have been close.

"How do you know it's him?" Mallory asked with an amused expression on his face, he glanced over to the fidgeting guard by the door and realised euphorically the gunfight had reached this level.

Q snorted with laughter. "Who else would ring the doorbell with a bomb?"

Mallory chuckled along with Q as the image formed in his mind; who was he kidding anything involving explosives always had James Bond's fingerprints all over it. The man was a menace, but this time he didn't give a shit about how much damage 007 wrought.

Their laughter was cut short as urgent footsteps reached Mallory's ears and the door swung open harshly, M felt the disappointment drowning his senses as the last person he wanted dragged himself through the door. John.

The previously composed man staggered in covered in blood and soot, M then noted the limp and looked down to see a bullet wound in their captor's leg. He really hoped it was causing the man agony. John ordered the terrified guard out into the corridor with a manic cry, his desperate eyes darting round the room for any means to escape. Mallory saw Q open his mouth, probably to deliver another wise-ass comment. He shook his head seriously and surprisingly Q's mouth snapped shut obediently, John was arguably even more dangerous now he had nothing left to lose. Just because MI6 were breathing down his neck did not mean that the man wouldn't do them serious damage before he left this world.

Mallory took advantage of John's wild state and started an interrogation of his own. "You know if you give yourself up I'm sure you can make a deal."

John stopped pacing abruptly and ceased his efforts to try and get through to anyone over the comms, clearly no-one was answering anyway. Mallory watched as John seemed to finally take in where he was and who he was with.

"Why would MI6 give me a deal."

Ah good, M saw John latch onto the idea of hope and redemption. He had dangled a chance in front of someone who was just realising he had no options left.

"For information." John still looked at him blankly. "About your employer, and the people behind this."

John suddenly barked out laughing and strode up to Mallory's chair, limping even more visibly now. "I don't know anything!"

Mallory frowned, "You've been in contact?"

"Never in person, never over the phone. I've only ever been in contact with them over the internet, hell I've never even heard a name!" John continued his rant as he paced behind Mallory's chair.

M allowed a smile to tug at his lips as John fell right into his play, cornered people were usually very talkative. He would have never given the man a deal after what he did to Q and now he knew for sure there was nothing the man could give them that his tech wouldn't.

"What about the mole?"

John shook his head vigorously, "No the mole was their asset, I just got passed on the information."

Mallory caught Q's shocked expression as John confirmed what they had both feared, the intelligence leak hadn't been a breach. Someone inside MI6 had betrayed them. The information although alarming was a problem for another day. M had gotten everything from John that he needed, the man was useless now.

John stopped pacing as he heard pistol shots before a thud outside the door, the guard was down. He rushed to a place behind M and pulled his own gun out as the trio heard slow deliberate footsteps pacing towards them. Mallory felt the gun press against the back of his head, he almost didn't notice the threat as he held his breath for whoever was coming through the door.

The door swung open slowly and James Bond walked calmly into the room, pistol drawn. Mallory observed the agent perform a scan of the room and noted the hardening of his grip when his eyes landed on M and then Q. No-one moved, barely breathed as Bond walked further into the room. His aim never wavering from John.

Mallory could see the fire and fury building in Bond's expression as he took in the room and the state of the two captives, he made a decision before Bond could take it out of his hands.

"Wound."

Bond responded immediately and fired two shots at John, one slamming into the man's shoulder causing him to tumble and the other tearing through John's gun-hand. Mallory heard the pistol clatter to the ground behind him followed closely by John with a grunt. M watched Bond stalk across the floor and aim his weapon at John's head, he could tell by the way the agent was shaking that was struggling not to shoot.

"Secure him Bond."

Bond looked from the writhing man beneath him over to M and finally to Q. Mallory recognised the rage in Bond's eyes and for a second thought the agent was going to disobey orders. Eventually though he pocketed the gun and roughly flipped John over, securing the man's hands behind his back. John was dumped upright against the wall with excessive force, M revelled in the sounds of pain.

"Is there a particular reason why you won't let me kill this monster?" Bond eventually ground out as he stood above John with his gun aiming at the prisoner's head, finger still twitching on the trigger.

"Yes, because I'm killing him."

Christ that felt good to say. He watched as the tension left Bond's body, the internal battle about John's fate over now he knew he would die. 007 turned to look at Mallory partly surprised but mostly happy.

"Good." Bond then strode over and quickly cut through Mallory's bonds.

Bond helped M get to his feet, steadying him as he almost tumbled as soon as he was vertical. Mallory fought off the encroaching blackness as his head span violently, he had to last to do this. He needed to do this. Bond offered his gun to Mallory, M glanced down at the weapon and shook his head. His eyes sought and found the knife that John had plunged into Q's body. Bond followed his gaze and actually grinned when he saw the blade on the floor, he retrieved it for M and handed the weapon over.

"Go help Q." Mallory whispered quietly as his fingers gripped the knife tightly, ignoring the blood dripping off the implement, Q's blood.

Bond hesitated for a second. "Go Bond, I've got this." 007 nodded once then turned and raced towards Q's fallen chair.

M distantly heard the agent call into his communications for medics as he turned and stared at the author of all his and Q's suffering; he felt a burning hatred like no other that spurred him onwards to John's slumped body. He felt echoes of all his wounds as he shuffled over to the downed man but blocked out every single one ruthlessly, he was running on empty and purely fuelled by vengeance.

He slumped to the ground as he reached John and relished in the agony the gunshot wounds were causing the mad-man. As he glared down at John he remembered all the things this bastard had done to Q, worst of all the sadist had enjoyed every second of it. Well now Mallory was going to enjoy this.

John eyed the knife warily before chuckling madly. "What are you going to do with that M? You can't hurt me now I'm unarmed."

Mallory wiped the smug smirk right off John's face as he plunged the knife deep within the man's leg, M felt warm liquid rush over his fingers and watched happily as John's smile transformed into a scream. He viscously yanked out the knife, uncaring of the damage caused as he did so which caused John to cry out again.

 _See how you like it…_

Gareth leaned in further and drove the knife right into their captor's shoulder, mirroring exactly where Q had been stabbed heartlessly. Mallory ignored the pleading look in John's eyes and the screaming intensified as he twisted the knife before pulling it out slowly.

"Please… please…" John whimpered pathetically.

Mallory was not a man without mercy but he categorically believed John didn't deserve any. His mind flew back to Q's pleas when he was being drowned which John had callously ignored, hell the man had loved every part of their torture. He deserved to die.

"I told you I would kill you." Mallory whispered harshly.

As John's terrified mind realised he was about to die, Mallory thrust the knife up into John's chest catching the man as he fell forwards in shock. M looked into John's agonised face as he pushed the knife further into the man's chest, he stared right into his tormentors eyes as he watched the light leave his eyes.

John's struggles grew weak and a moment later his chest stopped moving all together, John became a dead weight in Mallory's grip as his head slumped forward lifelessly. Gareth finally released his grip on the knife and with a struggle pushed John's considerable weight off him. Mallory felt oddly numb as the man toppled over with a thud, blood already pooling round the corpse. He looked down at his own blood-soaked hands with a detached gaze and wiped them onto his shirt with disgust, he was sick of blood and pain.

He felt his chest tighten as he dragged himself to his feet unsteadily, he almost toppled flat on his face as he tried to take baby steps towards Q. He needed to know if Q was okay, the urgent thought over-wrote his own injuries.

Bond suddenly looked up as he heard Mallory's struggles, the agent's eyes glanced over to John briefly but didn't react to the dead body.

"M you've got to sit down before you collapse." Bond ordered softly.

Mallory reached the chair finally, wincing as his ribs grated against one another. He suddenly felt very light headed and why was it difficult to breathe all of a sudden?

"Q?" He wheezed anxiously.

Bond had got to his feet now giving M a look at the quartermaster, it felt like his heart was exploding as he saw Q's still face and closed eyes.

"He's passed out." Bond supplied quickly, seeing M's reaction.

Only then did M see the steady rise and fall of Q's chest, it should have relieved the ache in his heart but the pain only grew worse. He scrunched up his features as the agony shook his entire body, feeling his legs buckle under his weight finally.

He was shocked and grunted when strong arms caught him as he fell. Bond eased him to the ground slowly as Mallory fought for every breath, what was happening to him he couldn't breathe! M watched as Bond ripped open his shirt and put an ear to his chest, the agent's intelligent eyes swept the room finally landing on the erratic heart monitor in the corner. His eyes spotted the metal band on his boss's arm next and he made the connection immediately.

"M did your heart stop?" Bond's urgent question drifted straight over Mallory's head as he sank into the darkness. He couldn't get any air at all now and it was like drowning again and he…

A slap to his face wiped the memories away and focussed his eyes on Bond's immediately. "Gareth this is important, did your heart stop beating?"

Mallory saw the urgency in Bond's face as he gripped M's shirt roughly. "Yes." Mallory managed weakly.

He allowed his head to drop to the ground and stared at Q's peaceful face, at least Henry was now safe no matter what happened to him. He could die happy now. Mallory distantly heard Bond's urgent calls for a medic and a defibrillator as his vision greyed out slowly, he no longer heard the agent's pleas to stay awake. His last image was of Q as he closed his eyes and his heart stopped beating.


	5. Chapter 5

Mallory opened his eyes cautiously unsure of what to expect, he quickly jumped to his feet as he saw he was surrounded by darkness. It was then he realised there had been no discomfort when he had miraculously jumped to his feet. Looking down he saw no wounds, no blood. He was dressed in his usual immaculate suit.

 _What is this? Is this death?_

A sudden whimpering sound stole his attention in a flash, his eyes darted over to the source of the disturbance and frowned as he saw a body quivering a fair distance away. Mallory started to walk towards the sudden apparition when another figure appeared above the first holding a rather nasty looking knife.

"No, please don't!"

Gareth almost fell over in shock when he heard the words, he'd recognise that voice anywhere. It was Q. Mallory put on a burst of speed as he saw the knife arcing down towards his friend, no matter how fast he willed his legs to move Q still looked as out of reach as he had when he set off.

"Q!" Mallory screamed as the knife found it's target and was buried deeply into the quartermaster's chest.

The hand holding the knife disappeared right before M's eyes along with the body of the man holding it, not before he saw the sneering face of John looking up at him.

 _I killed him, I know I did…_

Q's gasps brought Mallory's attention back to his hurting friend, finally Q was getting close and within seconds M was at his side, skidding to a halt and almost slipping in all the blood pooling around Q's body. Mallory found the ugly wound and swiftly used his suit jacket to stem the messy wound, it was no use the blood came right through the material as though it wasn't even there.

"Q hold on." M cried desperately as he felt tears prick his vision, how could he let this happen to Q? He was supposed to protect him.

Q started choking on his blood and Mallory flinched as the quartermaster's flailing limbs continually smashed into his arms. Eventually Q managed to grip M's arms and with great effort lifted his head from the ground.

"You said you'd protect me…"

Mallory stared into his friend's petrified eyes as he truly felt lost for words. M couldn't help but flinch at the accusation he saw in Q's face before it grew slack. Mallory watched silently as Q's head thumped back down to the ground with a thud. As he sat shocked at his dead friend's side Mallory couldn't tear his gaze away from Q's lifeless eyes, unmoving, never seeing again.

Gareth felt anger like he never had and started screaming at the sky, yelling and crying to anyone who would listen, never letting go of Q's lifeless body as he shook with emotion.

"Henry just wake up!" He howled over and over again until his throat was raw.

His vision started to grey and when he next looked down Q was gone, not dragged away just gone. The body had disappeared, the blood vanished, the only sign of the thing ever happened were the tears streaking down his face. Gareth began to panic as he looked for the body of his friend, just as a bright white light erupted in front of his face.

Mallory shot upright in shock breathing heavily, gulping in the air greedily as though he'd been starved of oxygen. His eyes shot open in a desperate attempt to work out what the hell was going on. That's when he felt the pain.

"Arrrghhh." He cried out involuntarily as he slammed his eyes tightly shut immediately, his surroundings had been far too bright and was already causing the most horrendous agony in his head.

Mallory weakly struggled as he felt strong but gentle hands on his chest guiding him back down; well he resisted until he realised he was struggling to breathe and that soon became a priority.

"Easy M, it's Bond."

The tone was familiar and even in his confused state Mallory decided to trust the as yet unidentified person, the words made him feel safe so he rolled with it. He felt sharp pains from his chest as he managed one shuddering breath after another, careful to start with small amounts. It didn't help when he kept breaking out into wheezing coughing fits and he felt his lungs burn as he forced air in and out of them.

"I'll fetch the Doctor." Another voice, not Bond, before rapid footsteps strode away.

"Breathe M, just breathe." Bond instructed gently as he gripped his hand.

Mallory decided the plan was sound, he wanted to focus on getting his breath back without sending shooting pain's through his chest each time. It felt incredibly sore so he imagined he'd not been wrong when he'd guessed a few broken ribs. He clung to Bond's grip tightly as his breathing finally eased and his chest stopped feeling so tight; he then realised what must have happened and almost kicked himself for it.

Stupidly he had been caught up in a nightmare and must have woken up panicked, he had probably strained the majority of his stitches and broken bones pulling that stunt. Of course he was assuming that had been a nightmare and he wasn't simply reliving Q's death. Q wasn't dead was he? No, Mallory was certain Bond had gotten to him in the cell.

No matter how hard he tried to wish away the images he couldn't get the sight of Q's lifeless eyes out of his mind; he had to see for himself that the quartermaster was alright. Slowly this time, he flickered open his eyes squinting slightly as his sight adjusted to the differed light levels. The pounding in his head was still causing some distress but not enough to abandon his quest.

He finally managed to focus on the figure sitting next to him and eventually made out the familiar blue eyes and blond hair, it was Bond. He ignored the concerned look and shifted his sight to the agent's left in search for the quartermaster. He spied another bed next to his and after Bond shifts obligingly, he finally found the person he had been looking for, Q.

The poor kid was swaddled into bandages and still looked pale but the heart monitor was beeping away steadily and Mallory could see the rise and fall of the young man's chest. Q was alive. Gareth felt tremendously guilty as he observed the state of the quartermaster, his only solace was that Q appeared to be sleeping peacefully and pain-free. Mallory sighed deeply with relief as he simply watched Q breathing for a few moments, his nightmare had been just that.

He remembered Bond was in the room when he felt his hand being untangled from someone else's, he looked shocked at the marks he had left on the agent's hand. Mallory obviously hadn't realised how _hard_ he was squeezing his agent's hand.

Bond only smiled and waved off the concerned look, shaking some life back into the hand. "Don't worry sir, I've had worse."

That smirk, god he had missed that smirk. M would never admit it to 007, he was already unmanageable the last thing he wanted to do was encourage the man. But there was something so comforting about the smile, something that Mallory clung too as it reminded him of MI6, of normalcy. He felt tears threaten to appear but just about managed to choke them back, the turn of events was embarrassingly becoming a bit much for him.

Bond's scrutinising stare wouldn't have missed the action but thankfully the agent remained silent, there was no judgement in the familiar eyes. They both started to the other end of the room as a door swung open and a familiar Doctor walked in, it was then that M properly took in his surroundings and realised they were in the medical wing of MI6 and that he and Q were the only patients.

Mallory sat silently as the Doctor picked up a clipboard and began a series of brief tests, including shining a pen light into his eyes which really didn't help the pounding headache he had. Mercifully the checks were short and after the Doctor explained the majority of his ailments he instructed that Mallory was recovering well, and he was to continue resting with no stress or strain. Funnily enough the last part of the delivery was spoken directly to Bond who smiled easily and leaned back in his chair innocently. Mallory snorted inwardly at the image.

The Doctor jotted a few more things down on his clipboard before setting off at a brisk pace to the exit, Mallory recognised a busy man when he saw one and was grateful that the Doctor had other places to be. He hated being poked and prodded.

Mallory tried to ask Bond what happened back in the cell when he annoyingly started coughing again, he imagined the water-boarding was to blame for the rattling and unreliable lungs.

"Do you want a drink?" Bond asks gently.

M managed a small nod, thankful that Bond was astute enough to realise his needs. His throat felt raw from coughing and was becoming more painful with each attack.

Bond returned with a glass of water and a straw; even under M's withering gaze continued to push the straw towards M's mouth unperturbed. It was annoying actually, he could usually send men scurrying in fear with that look but never Bond. It was one of the many reasons he respected the agent so much even though the man could drive him to madness, he respected someone who stood up to people without fear.

The cool water soothed Mallory's raw throat and he lapped it up greedily at first, water had never felt so good. The cup was withdrawn as he finished and whilst Bond replaced the water, M took a good look at himself.

He winced as he stared down and realised he looked a lot like Q, covered in bandages, gauze strips and plasters. At least there wasn't any blood in sight. He even had thick bandages wrapped round both of his wrists and frowned at the sight before he realised they did sting, he guessed he mangled up his wrists pretty badly when he had thrashed against the zip ties. He obviously hadn't noticed the plastic biting into his skin at the time but then to be fair he did have other things on his mind.

After a quick internal scan he realised the main aches were coming from his chest, lungs and his heart. Everywhere else just felt numb or a faint stinging sensation. All in all he must have been on a lot of medication to feel so little.

"You know you were shouting his name?" Bond asked quietly, interrupting Mallory's thoughts. M glanced up to see the agent nodding his to Q indicating the subject of his question.

Gareth felt a blush creeping over his cheeks and he felt embarrassed; he had never imagined he was having the nightmares out loud? How much had he said?

"Bad dreams."

There was no reproach in Bond's features, he just nodded understandingly without judgement. M also saw a flash of pity cross the agent's features which was strange, it was not an emotion 007 ever really displayed.

Mallory's thoughts returned to the reason he had tried to talk in the first place. The last thing he remembered in the cell was feeling his chest tighten and his heart aching, had it been a heart attack? "What happened?"

"When your heart was restarted the first time, the idiots didn't keep a close enough eye on you. Your heart was beating out of rhythm causing it to beat far too slowly, you became bradycardic quickly and loss consciousness from the lack of oxygen."

Mallory nodded slowly as he associated the symptoms he felt at the end with oxygen deprivation, he had felt so light headed. A sudden thought crossed his mind as he remembered slipping away.

"Did I die?"

Bond smiled, the kind that didn't reach his eyes. "Technically yes, but obviously you're not dead now."

M snorted at the very characteristically 'Bond' answer. "Obviously."

Silence hung between the pair as Mallory struggled as a particularly nasty wave of nausea passed through him, he rode it out gritting his teeth as the feeling made his head pound faster. "How long were we there for?"

He looked at Bond and watched the agent shift uncomfortably, another thing he has never seen 007 do. He could see remorse and regret shining back at him from the agent's piercing eyes. "82 hours."

M blinked in shock. "It felt like weeks…" He stopped abruptly as another coughing fit took over, aching his ribs again in the process. Each time it happened it was getting quicker to recover but each cough left residual pain in his chest and it was building.

Bond looked uncharacteristically guilty as he watched silently through his friend's pain. "I'm sorry we didn't find you sooner."

When he had recovered Mallory looked sadly over at Q and remembered the moments before Bond had stormed in. "You found us just in time 007."

After seeing Bond's quizzical expression, M explained. "Just before you stormed in… I was ready to tell them everything. I had even started my sentence when you blew the place up."

M squeezed shut his eyes tightly against the pain of the memory, of the anguish he felt for Q. "Q had reached his limits, he was pleading but they didn't listen. They were going to drown him over and over again James, I couldn't let them do that to him." He whispered, tears glistening in his eyes as he stared at Q's sleeping face.

Mallory observed Bond's fists tighten as he heard the horrific threat, no doubt the agent had already guessed the majority of what the pair had been through from their injuries and all the equipment in the room. But hearing it made it real and frightening.

"The man you killed, he was going to do that to Q?" Bond finally managed to breathe out, unable to contain his fury as his grip tightened on the bed rail.

"Yes." Mallory whispered.

"Then you didn't kill him slowly enough." Mallory had never seen Bond look so angry, it was truly terrifying. Is this what his enemies must see? The rage and madness swirling in those depths.

Q whimpered. Mallory and Bond immediately looked towards the quartermaster, anger forgotten in a heartbeat. Bond stroked the young man's hair and whispered into his ear until Q's peaceful sleep returned. He was obviously having a nightmare. M almost felt embarrassed at witnessing the intimate scene, like he shouldn't be watching.

"Has he woken up before?" M asked finally when Q looked peaceful again and Bond had calmed down.

"Once." The agent sighed heavily. "He was having a particularly bad nightmare and he wouldn't stop thrashing, the doctors thought he was going to hurt himself. I managed to bring him round, he was only conscious for a few minutes though."

Mallory was glad that Bond was around for Q, he realised the exact same thing had happened when he'd resurfaced in the throes of a nightmare. They made quite a pair.

"He was worried about you." Bond started chuckling then, and appeared to be on the same wavelength as Mallory. "In fact the two of you acted identically when you first woke up."

M smiled warmly at the thought, Q was a very caring person. One of his better qualities. His grin faded and so did Bond's as the seriousness of the situation sobered their moods, Q and he may be healing well physically but mentally was a whole other matter. He and Q were already suffering from effects, who knew how long it would take to get over the memories? Would they ever? From Mallory's experience he knew the answer already, they would never get over it completely. All they could do was try to lock the harrowing experiences away.

Mallory's gaze didn't miss Bond holding Q's hand gently. "He's going to need you James."

James glanced up surprised at the use of his first name and his eyes softened.

"You're both going to need me Gareth. Don't think you're handling this alone, none of us will let you."

"Us?" Mallory asked confused and oddly touched.

Bond indicated to all the cards at the foot of his bed that he hadn't even noticed, he couldn't count the number but they were all clearly get well soon cards. Mallory felt himself welling up at the sentiment, he did work with some great people.

Without waring he felt his eyes drooping as another dose of morphine worked it's way into his system, numbing the aches and burns. Just as he was about to doze off he remembered something important, something Bond needed to know urgently.

"Bond I need to tell you something…" Annoyingly he ended up coughing again and his chest ached under the attack, he was just so damn tired…

James was suddenly in his view pressing gently down on his chest, apparently he was trying to rise. The agent could clearly see how exhausted he was and that he was valiantly fighting a losing battle against the drugs. "It can wait M, you need to rest."

M threw Bond a serious look, imploring him to listen and understand the urgency in his tone. "This can't wait James."

He could see the inner battle Bond was fighting as he spied the agent's hand reaching out towards a needle. For one heart-stopping moment he actually thought Bond was just going to knock him out with a sedative, he certainly wouldn't put it past him. Something changed Bond's mind though, stayed his hand. Probably the seriousness in Mallory's expression.

He took his chance before Bond reconsidered. "They weren't working alone. They had an employer, no meetings or names though, communication was all done over the internet."

Bond's surprised face meant he had been right to fight the sedative, this was fresh intel. James suddenly looked grave as he thought through the implications, they hadn't caught the real guys behind the threat. This wasn't over.

Bond seemed to come to an inner conclusion and Mallory noticed him switch to 'agent' mode in an instant. "Q branch are stripping apart all the tech as we speak, they'll find out who this employer is and we'll stop them." The last was an obvious threat, Bond was pissed at these guys and M felt sorry for anyone Bond got his hands on.

Mallory felt himself drifting again and almost allowed it as Bond gently pushed him down into his pillows, he wasn't done yet though. "One more thing…" He managed barely.

Bond leaned in close as M whispered. "There's a mole in MI6, that's how they took us, how they knew about the project, knew Q's real name…"

James mouth hung agape as his mind registered what he'd just been told, completely shocked just as M and Q had been. "Are you sure?"

Mallory could only manage a single nod but it was enough to get the message through, he watched Bond's face harden. The agent's burning eyes screamed bloody murder. A traitor had done this, one of their own. It hurt Mallory to think about it too.

He could feel himself slipping deeper into the darkness so he gripped Bond's hand urgently to keep him grounded for a few more seconds. He needed to tell Bond one more important thing. It was vital, if they got this wrong they could all end up dead. "Trust nobody outside of this room."

Bond nodded acceptingly, understanding the need for secrecy. The traitor could be anyone and telling others could only put them in danger. Until they knew more everyone was a suspect.

Mallory finally drifted off seconds later, exhaustion and drugs finally winning the battle. He allowed himself to tumble into the comfort of the dark, now that he had told Bond what had been weighing on his mind. He trusted 007 to keep Q safe from danger until they could get back on their feet and root out the mole whoever he or she was, that was enough for M.

James Bond leaned back in his chair heavily, carefully extracting his hand from M's surprisingly strong grip. He felt shell-shocked, the turn of events changed everything. He had thought this nightmare was over, it turned out it was far from it. As he watched over Q and M he vowed to never let either man out of his sight, the traitor was still loose and undiscovered in MI6 and there was still a powerful, well-funded employer out there that would stop at nothing to get the pair in their grips again. Nothing could make him leave their bedsides now, no-one.

Bond seethed silently as his anger for the mysterious traitor grew, looking at Q's bandaged body only made it increase faster. How dare anyone betray Q and M like this? They were going to pay, and they would pay dearly. The agent withdrew his pistol loaded a bullet into the chamber and rested the weapon on his knee, he was taking no chances. Not with their lives.

Bond continued his silent vigil completely oblivious to the person watching the camera feed of the medical wing, the person had clearly seen enough and closed the terminal down discretely before returning to work amongst the bustle of MI6 employees.


End file.
